BITN - 101 Scary Stories

As many of you know, @tragedyjones is starting up a new a MU, called Bump In The Night. TJ has also announced that we will be opening on March 1. So far, we've had a lot of good suggestions and positive feedback, and I want to keep on doing what's worked, and reach out to you all for some ideas.

The premise behind Bump In The Night is mortal (or mostly mortal) people confronting and fighting the World of Darkness. Monsters lurk in the shadows, predators lurk dark alleys, and the things that simply cannot be keep jumping out and going "boo". We are looking to gather up seed ideas for short stories, plots, interesting NPCs, species of monsters, etc, that we can use to feed this game. We will not rely on a large meta plot to keep the game moving (though there surely will be some long-running elements), but instead short stories, of the "tell in the dark" variety.

So, MuSoapBox, we all would love if you can contribute! Please give me stories! I'm looking for small pitches (5 to 20 words or so) for stories that you would like to see happening in game. Think of it as something like "a pitch for a Goosebumps book" (except, ya know, we don't have to be PG rated). If you got something you think is good but don't want it going public, go ahead and message me!

(Note: BITN is using the CofD book exclusively, both for rules and to define our world. Our monsters will be drawn from lore, legend, and popular fiction. Vampire are not those things described in V:tR, but instead those things that lurk in the dark and drink blood. Let your creativity run amok!)

A hospital that's home to various monsters, perhaps all of the same family.

The ER that has a higher rate of fatalities that can be explained by statistics because one such monster is feeding off the life force of those who are grievously hurt enough that their death is assumed to be from what happened to them.

The coma ward where every patient is low on blood except no one checks for that on someone in a coma. There's enough patients the monster can feed off their blood indefinitely.

The psych ward which has a lower rate of violent incidents because another monster is feeding off their psychic energy, placating the insane and keeping them partially sedated. The staff just count their blessings.

The morgue where nothing appears out of the ordinary at all. Except that corpses get sewn up after autopsies without some of their organs. The coroner has an appetite that can't be satisfied by Red Robin.

Supernatural parasites that feed off of rage. They lay eggs in someone, and then the larvae hatch, crawl their way under the skin to the base of the victim's brain, and start stimulating his or her angers. Once sated with rage, they burst out of the body in a swarm, scatter, and infest new hosts.

An unearthed book that contains traces of a language no one's ever seen before. A living language, that worms its way into the reader's mind, creating obsession and madness as it tries to reclaim its previous vocabulary and infect others.

Munchhausen's by Proxy by means of psychokinesis. (I actually have a whole plot worked up for this one that I've never gotten to run.)

The Midnight Song. Heard by some people at midnight on a station that's normally dead air. The listener commits suicide or homicide soon after, but doesn't understand why, only that they must.

So... I have nothing really specific in mind, but always found that helpful, if anyone's ever stuck on what to do, even for just quick normal scenes. Figured this was as good a place as any to share =) It's not always completely relevant, but some good ideas/starting points.

(I actually have a whole plot worked up for this one that I've never gotten to run.)

We are going to make a big effort to enable non-staff story tellers. That's one of the reasons why we're gathering this list, so we have ideas we can have people pull from and run. I've found there's a fair number of people willing to run things, just not having an idea ready when they're inspired.

@tragedyjones is also working on a storyteller role, which will give some of the meager "tools" we have available to those that are interested in storytelling regularly (but are not staffers). I won't say more on it, cause I don't know any more!

And for everyone else, thank you! This is great stuff, keep it coming.

(I actually have a whole plot worked up for this one that I've never gotten to run.)

We are going to make a big effort to enable non-staff story tellers. That's one of the reasons why we're gathering this list, so we have ideas we can have people pull from and run. I've found there's a fair number of people willing to run things, just not having an idea ready when they're inspired.

@tragedyjones is also working on a storyteller role, which will give some of the meager "tools" we have available to those that are interested in storytelling regularly (but are not staffers). I won't say more on it, cause I don't know any more!

And for everyone else, thank you! This is great stuff, keep it coming.

The least gruesome way to explain CHUD is this: You've all heard horror stories about a baby alligator flushed down a toilet, and then in the sewers it becomes an horrific monster that kills people? Well...CHUD is the same story, just replace alligator with human